[Federal Register: November 2, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 211)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 67341-67343]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02no10-24]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
[Docket No. FWS-R4-ES-2010-0055; MO-92210-0-0008-B2]
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Finding on
a Petition To List the Bay Springs Salamander as Endangered
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of 90-day petition finding.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a 90-day
finding on a petition to list the Bay Springs salamander (Plethodon
ainsworthi) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended. Based on our review, we find the petition does not present
substantial information indicating that listing may be warranted at
this time. Therefore, we are not initiating a status review in response
to this petition. However, we ask the public to submit to us any new
information that becomes available concerning the status of, or threats
to, the Bay Springs salamander or its habitat at any time.
DATES: The finding announced in this document was made on November 2,
2010.
ADDRESSES: This finding is available on the Internet at http://
www.regulations.gov at Docket Number FWS-R4-ES-2010-0055. Supporting
documentation we used in preparing this finding is available for public
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, MS Field Office, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway,
Jackson, Mississippi 39213. Please submit any new information,
materials, comments, or questions concerning this finding to the above
street address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Ricks, Field Supervisor,
Mississippi Field Office (see ADDRESSES), by telephone (601-321-1122),
or by facsimile (601-965-4340). If you use a telecommunications device
for the deaf (TDD), please call the Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) at 800-877-8339.
[[Page 67342]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as
amended (Act) (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) requires that we make a finding
on whether a petition to list, delist, or reclassify a species presents
substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the
petitioned action may be warranted. We base this finding on information
provided in the petition, supporting information submitted with the
petition, and information otherwise readily available in our files. The
Act requires, to the maximum extent practicable, we are to make this
finding within 90 days of our receipt of the petition, and publish our
notice of the finding promptly in the Federal Register.
Our standard for substantial scientific or commercial information
within the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) with regard to a 90-day
petition finding is ``that amount of information that would lead a
reasonable person to believe that the measure proposed in the petition
may be warranted'' (50 CFR 424.14(b)). If we find that substantial
scientific or commercial information was presented, the Act requires
that we promptly review the status of the species (status review),
which is subsequently summarized in our 12-month finding.
Petition History
On February 6, 2006, we received a petition, dated February 2,
2006, from Mr. Jeremy Nichols, Denver, Colorado, requesting that the
Bay Springs salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) be listed as endangered
under the Act. The petition clearly identified itself as such and
included the requisite identification information for the petitioner,
as required at 50 CFR 424.14(a). In a March 3, 2006, letter to
petitioner, we stated that we did not have sufficient funds to respond
to the petition at that time due to a significant number of court
orders and judicially approved settlement agreements for other listing-
related actions, which had consumed nearly all of our listing and
critical habitat funding for fiscal year 2006. On May 1, 2007, we
notified Mr. Nichols, by letter, that funding had become available to
complete this 90-day finding. This finding addresses the petition.
Species Information
The Bay Springs salamander (Plethodon ainsworthi) was described as
a species by Lazell (1998) from two badly preserved specimens believed
to be collected in a single springhead in 1964 near the town of Bay
Springs in Jasper County, Mississippi (Lazell 1998, p. 967; MNHP 1999,
p. 3). The Bay Springs salamander was differentiated from other members
of the Plethodon genus, or woodland salamanders, in its very slender
body shape, low costal (side) groove count, and small legs. Because the
features of the more derived groups within the genus are present,
Lazell (2005, p. 787) speculated that the Bay Springs salamander is
distinct and may be close to the ancestral stock of the genus. Based on
these unique features, Lazell (1998) recommended the Bay Springs
salamander be recognized as a distinct species, Plethodon ainsworthi.
The petition did not provide any definitive information on life
history, distribution or habitat of this species, and such information
does not exist in Service files. The original type locality of the only
two specimens collected for this species is described as a 2-hectare
(4.9-acre) mixed mesic woodland area (Lazell 1998, pp. 969-970). Lazell
noted after a 1991 visit that this site and nearby Six Springs were
both intact and in good ecological condition, although much of the
surrounding area had been severely altered (Lazell 2005, pp. 787-788).
However, this type locality, listed only as ``2 Mi S. of Bay Springs''
with the notes ``In springhead litter. Clear hot day 11 a.m.'' (Lazell
1998, p. 967), has been questioned. Lazell (1998, pp. 967, 969; 2005,
p. 787) refers to the collection location as ``presumed.'' Mississippi
Natural Heritage Program (MNHP 1999, p. 2) described the site after a
1997 survey as ``springhead on Ainsworth property matches distance from
Bay Springs given on collection label, but it is not certain that
Ainsworth property is indeed the collection site.'' Additionally, the
petition stated, ``it is unclear whether this habitat represents the
species' true habitat, or the habitat that existed when the salamander
was last collected in 1964, or an altered habitat.''
Despite the question of the original collection site, numerous
surveys using visual searching and coverboard techniques were conducted
at the presumed type locality and at three other possible sites,
including Six Springs, by multiple researchers beginning in 1991
(Lazell 1998, p. 970; 2005, p. 787; MNHP 1999). These searches revealed
several salamander species, including others in the genus Plethodon,
and although a night hunt in 1995 produced a glimpse of a possible Bay
Springs salamander, subsequent searches in 1995 and 1997 produced no
further evidence of the species (Lazell 2005, p. 787).
Therefore, despite numerous searches of the presumed type locality,
no extant populations of the Bay Springs salamander have been located
(Lazell 1998, p. 967, p. 970; 2005, p. 787). In addition to the failure
to find the species during multiple search efforts, other information
provided in the petition and in Service files indicates the species is
extinct. The petition states several times that the species is ``on the
brink of extinction'' or ``already extinct'' (pp. 2, 4, 5).
Furthermore, the species is considered Historical by the Mississippi
Natural Heritage Program (MNHP 1999), listed as extinct by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN 2004), and is
assigned the global rank GH (possibly extinct) by NatureServe
(NatureServe 2002). Based on this information, we conclude the species
is extinct.
The petition presented information for three of the five listing
factors (Factors A, D, and E) in section 4 of the Act in an effort to
identify threats that may be leading or have lead to the decline of the
Bay Springs salamander. However, these factors are pertinent only in
cases where the organism being proposed for listing is present and thus
capable of being affected by any threats. Because the information in
our files indicates that the Bay Springs salamander is extinct, it does
not meet the definition of endangered species or a threatened species
under the Act (sections 3(6) and 3(20) of the Act, respectively).
Therefore, an analysis of the five threat factors is not appropriate.
Finding
In summary, we reviewed the information presented in the petition
and evaluated that information in relation to information readily
available in our files. On the basis of our evaluation of this
information under section 4(b)(3)(A) of the Act, we conclude that the
petition does not present substantial scientific or commercial
information indicating that listing the Bay Springs salamander under
the Act as endangered may be warranted at this time. This finding is
based on information that indicates the species is extinct and,
therefore, does not meet the definition of either an endangered species
or a threatened species under the Act.
Although we will not review the status of the species at this time,
we encourage interested parties to continue to submit to us any new
information regarding the Bay Springs salamander. If you wish to
provide information regarding the Bay Springs salamander, you may
submit your information or materials to the Field Supervisor,
Mississippi Field Office (see ADDRESSES), at any time.
[[Page 67343]]
References Cited
A complete list of references cited is available on the Internet at
http://www.regulations.gov and upon request from the Mississippi Field
Office (see ADDRESSES).
Authors
The primary authors of this notice are the staff members of the
Mississippi Field Office (see ADDRESSES).
Authority
The authority for this action is the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).
Dated: October 15, 2010.
Gary D. Frazer,
Acting Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-27514 Filed 11-1-10; 8:45 am]
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